UNSC Department of Biological Warfare
The UNSC Department of Biological Warfare (BIOWAR) was a subordinate independent and automous command of the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence, Section Three. It was responsible for the research, development, manufacture, and deployment of biological weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and also the defense of UNSC military forces against hostile biological warfare weapons. Research Interests General Statement The Department of Biological Warfare drew from the expertise of the academic research community, many of which whom were principal investigators at Ivy League research institutions on Earth such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both at Cambridge, Massachusetts. BIOWAR took a multidisciplinary approach to understand the craft, mechanism, and deployment of biological weapons. Classification of Biological Reagents While many pathogenic agents are known to man, there are two major classifications; microscopic infectious particles such as the hemorrhagic fever viruses of the filovirae familial classification, such as Ebola virus and Marburg virus, non-replicating biological reagents such as the ricin and diphtheria toxin A (DTA) polypeptides, and replicating macropeptide reagents such as the protein product encoded by PRNP (CD230/''CJD''). Deficiencies of Conventional Programs Conventional biological weapons programs generally select warfare reagents from a small select pool of known, highly virulent biological agents; an exemplary example of this stands of the hemorrhagic fever viruses Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, and Lassa Fever, which have gained significant public and governmental infamy for causing small epidemics in the 20th century in Africa. However, it is extraordinarily easy to devise countermeasures for the major classifications of biological warfare reagents. Antibody production is a common technique even in university molecular biological research laboratories, and incubating a model animal such as a rabbit, mouse, or goat with a polypeptide virulent agent or a whole-particle bacterial or viral reagent leads to the reproducible and mass-producible production of antibodies. Furthermore, because of the cellular physiology of the human body, there is an increasingly well-defined field of pathways that a pathogenic agent on the molecular mechanism may induce disease; by direct pathogenic processes, or in the case of many viruses, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Staphylococcus aureus, to use and to manipulate host mechanisms for pathogenic gains. For the overwhelming majority of bacterial reagents, prolonged infection can be counteracted by antibiotics; small-molecule chemical inhibitors such as vancomycin and ionomycin that have two major pathways of action; prokaryotic ribosomal inhibition or bacterial wall defection, leading to bacteriostatic or bacteriocidal effects with high potency. Recent advances in chemical biology have allowed for the production of increasingly effacious antibiotics and their permeability into target cell populations. A consistent common modality for infectious viral particles is the need for significant nucleic acid replication; this centers on RNA or DNA polymerases and other nucleic-acid associated enzymes, such as reverse transcriptase (RT) and also HIV-associated factors (Gag, Rev) that alter host cell nuclear pore trafficking and alter the timecourse of viral translational programs. A disproportionate number of anti-viral reagents are synthetic DNA nucleosides that inhibit viral nucleic acid replication, small-molecule chemical inhibitors of thymidine kinase (TK), which is highly expressed in particular latent viruses, and also the targeting of another key player in viral infection; entry into the host cell, which Chemical Biology The highly successful postnatal physiological and psychological control of Kimberly Ivy Blackburn suggested small molecules as highly effacious tools to control, modify, and augment UNSC soldiers non-invasively. The UNSC Department of Biological Warfare, in collaboration with the Department of Chemical Biology at Acumen Science Laboratories, would extensively research small molecules as probes into adult human physiology and psychology. During the 2580s, the Office of Naval Intelligence's chemical biology program, bolstered by Beah Schore, would be enormously successful, and would reach full-scale application in the Myrmidon Program, where the fourth-iteration SPARTAN soldiers would be extensively augumented embryonically and postnatally with small molecules. With the passing of time, the Department of Biological Warfare would employ a diverse chemical collection to both augment and control friendly soldiers and to torture and interrogate captured prisoners of war. Certain effacious molecules are listed below: *'(+)-WIN-55212': CB1 and CB2 agonist; produces analgesia and euphoria. Used to dull pain of UNSC soldiers on the battlefield and provide a general euphoria that was conducive to killing and mass murders. *'A 841720': mGluR1 antagonist; produces motor and cognitive deficits. Used to interrogate enemy captives and to lower psychological resistance to coercive questioning. *'WF-23': DAT and SERT antagonist; produces hyperactivity, analgesia, and euphoria, and is addictive. Optimized structural analog of cocaine. Used to provide a general euphoria in UNSC soldiers that was conducive to killing and mass murders. Operational History By 2553, Biological Warfare would be directed by Rear Admiral Montgomery. Later, by 2553, Biological Warfare would lead ONI's internal effort on PATRIOT and FORECAST, and this effort would be led by Commodore Cooke, a new member of Biological Warfare. Because of its expertise in the handling of virulent micro-organisms, it would participate in the UNSC Special Pathogens Section together with the UNSC Medical Corps. Known Personnel Ordered by last known rank *Rear Admiral Montgomery (O-8), Director of Biological Warfare (Before 2553—?) *Rear Admiral Beah Schore (O-8) — Activatable latent temporary officer's commission, Director of PATRIOT *Commodore Cooke (O-7), Director of FORECAST *Commander Tay (O-5) *Lieutenant Lauryn Alden (O-3)